Salary expectations: how do you answer? after 10 years as an electrician's helper

I have been out of work for 14 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. It has been weighing on me all week. I looked up ranges in Austin and they vary a lot. How do you research fairly?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.